So Saturday I had the chance to look at an apartment that may possibly be my future place of residence. It isn’t in the best of neighborhoods, and it will extend my commute slightly. But the price is right, and Zai can continue walking to work.
She needs to get her license and a car… but I’m willing to do this for now.
We looked at the place, and there’s no polite way to say it, its a dump. This is no fault of the landlord, just horrible tenants before us. They’re small issues, but they quickly pile up:
Broken Windows
Chipped Paint
Chipped Plaster
Filthy Carpet
Filthy Floors
Not one, but TWO non-working stoves
Bedrooms I can stretch my arms and touch both walls
Damaged door to apartment
A missing doorknob on the pantry
A loaf of bread nailed to the top of the doorframe
Now, I should probably speak of the pros:
Nice-sized living room, dining room, and kitchen
Walk-in closet
Walk-in pantry
The building itself well-kept, with a heavy locked door leading outside
About ten steps away from a mexican place with excellent chorizo tortas
Nice high ceilings (as a tall man, I appreciate the hell out of that)
Tall windows which make the place nice and sunny during the day
Wrought iron light fixtures
Two extra rooms to accomodate a study for me and a painting room for Zai
So I kinda like the idea. I saw the place, in all its decrept splendor, and still thought ‘this could be home.’
But there’s one large issue at hand. One that thrusts me into the middle of a situation I don’t really want to be a part of. Zai’s godfather is the landlord.
This means I wanted to be extra-careful in my demands of the landlord. I didn’t want to insult someone who would become family. It was made more difficult by the fact that I’ve never dealt with a landlord before, I didn’t know if what I THOUGHT a landlord should be responsible for was accurate.
So I asked my parents, who said that the landlord should be responsible for everything. So I relay this to Zai, who relays this to her parents…
Hoo boy.
I won’t say what came next, its not my place. But I’m pretty sure my family has managed to insult her family without even trying. Sooo… I think I have some work to do.
Zel-kun out.
David N. Scott | 14-May-07 at 10:17 am | Permalink
Er… unless real estate law works completely differently over in IL, the Landlord really should be responsible for all that. It’s the good part of renting–the landlord has to keep the place inhabitable.
That being said, I sometimes miss our crappy first apartment. There wasn’t a lot of room and we slept on a futon and our couch was a little bed and our couch table was a bunch of boxes taped together and covered with a sheet, but life was much easier then in a lot of ways and I miss it and wish I’d enjoyed it more…
Sabrejack | 14-May-07 at 1:22 pm | Permalink
I highly recommend finding a different place. Nothing good can come of this.
Zai | 14-May-07 at 2:55 pm | Permalink
Well, technically, my godfather IS gonna take care of everything. The only thing he won’t be taking care of is the stove cause it “works.” it is ancient, ugly as hell and may have a couple of broken knobs, but they claim it “works.” I’m gonna take my mother back there this evening so we can see just how WELL it works.
Regardless, my parents said they would help pitch in for us to get a new stove. Saw a couple of them at best buy and home depot for between $280 to $350 which should be affordable enough for us. And my godfather is giving us $1,000 to make the necessary repairs. If we have any money left over from the $1,000 when our primary repairs are done, that can go towards the new stove too.
I’m just eager to get some colors picked out so we can start painting! Its white with an ugly orange-brown boarder all over the place and I can’t stand it. Lets get some COLOR in there! My studio gets to be pale sage green! =P
Sabrejack | 14-May-07 at 4:14 pm | Permalink
I suppose this is because of the godfather situation.. but really, he shouldn’t be giving you money for repairs — he should be paying people to come in and repair it, however much that may end up costing.. but it’s ok.. it’s apparently in a low-income area and you probably can’t really expect everything to be handled properly. Just another reason I love Orange County. Expensive but worth it!
Zai | 14-May-07 at 5:21 pm | Permalink
Oh tell me about it! If I could afford it, I’d be living in Lincoln Park, or some other nice north side neighborhood, and maybe someday when the money is right, I will. But we have to make do with what we can afford at the moment, and unforunately, that means staying in gehttoville a few years more. I don’t expect we will be living in the apartment for more than 2 or 3 years till we can save enough for a down payment on a house or condo.
Sabrejack | 15-May-07 at 11:17 am | Permalink
Ah well. It’s the company that’s important, right? =)
Sabrejack | 15-May-07 at 11:20 am | Permalink
For comedic effect, and since I am slightly dyslexic and misread “walls” as “balls” the first time I saw this list.. I am reposting some of Zel’s complaints with strategic words replaced.
—
Broken Balls
Chipped Balls
Filthy Balls
Not one, but TWO non-working balls
Bedrooms I can stretch my arms and touch both balls
Damaged balls
Now, I should probably speak of the pros:
Nice-sized balls
Zai | 15-May-07 at 2:25 pm | Permalink
LOL!!
and yes, i DID laugh out loud. Not like sometimes when you type LOL, but you don’t really laugh out loud!
I did NOT however “ROFLMAO.”
I really don’t have room on the floor
David N. Scott | 16-May-07 at 11:56 am | Permalink
Hahaha… nice list, Pete.
I don’t think there’s anything too terifying about living under or with relatives. My parents and I bought our place together, and it works pretty well save for the ocassional flare up.